-1 upvotes, 3 direct replies (showing 3)
View submission: Ask Anything Wednesday - Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science
If humans had 12 digits instead of ten and we had a "12-based" numbering system, how would that change things like the drug dosages we now have?
Comment by birdandsheep at 24/07/2024 at 18:54 UTC
11 upvotes, 2 direct replies
It wouldn't. The way you write a number has no bearing on what that number is. It's like counting in German vs English. They're just different names for the same concepts.
Also, there is no reason to think that our hands are the reason we settled on 10. There have been cultures with a variety of bases.
Comment by Future-Many7705 at 24/07/2024 at 20:46 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
There are many numeric systems that exist in base 12 already. One fun example is that the reason it’s 360 degrees to a circle is because it’s from a base 12 system.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duodecimal
Comment by Indemnity4 at 25/07/2024 at 02:16 UTC*
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Humanity has evolved at least 4 different methods of counting on hands.
Ten fingers is the least useful. For one, it requires both hands and it's not that challenging to just remember. You also cannot count higher than 10 without getting complicated.
Base-5 is tally marks. I, II, III, IIII, ~~IIII~~. Let's you hold a pen in one hand. With two hands you can count to 25 by letting each finger on the second hand = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 (or 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 if it is truly base-5).
Base-12 is your knuckles. Hold your left hand out, palm facing towards yourself. Use your thumb to tap each line on each finger: pinky 1, 2, 3; ring finger 4, 5, 6, etc. Let's you count to 12 while holding a pen. You can then use your other hand as the "10" increment. Means you can count to 144 with two hands, a number you cannot easily remember.
Base-16 is same as above but now use lines+finger tip. Counting to 256 with two hands? That lets you track bags of grain getting loaded on a wagon or count livestock crossing through a gate.